Curve Balls
by amycakes
Summary: Bonnie Bennett is prepared to end it all. She has one foot over the edge of Wickery Bridge but before she can jump, the devil appears. Kennett
1. Chapter 1

Title in reference to 'life keeps throwing you curve balls' figure of speech.

**Warnings:** Sensitive themes obviously.

**Disclaimer:** I'd love to own TVD, but I don't, ergo I am poor.

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><p><em>Curve Balls<br>_

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><p>She's been through enough. Life just wouldn't stop throwing her curve balls and she was sick and tired of it. Sick and tired of being the only one who got hurt in the end, the only one no one bothered to think about, to <em>consider<em>, to ask her if she was fucking _okay_. And she's sick of it – she just wants to all to end.

Bonnie Bennett is standing on the edge of Wickery Bridge, staring down at the black abyss below. Her hair is blowing in the breeze, the moon's shine highlighting dried tear tracks on her cheeks. She must look like a wreck…she was a wreck.

'_Somehow she's always the one that gets hurt'_. That was what Caroline had said and she was right.

When she lost Grams she felt as if she'd lost a piece of herself – something irreparable and that she'd never be able to go on, that she couldn't be the same Bonnie Bennett anymore that everyone expected her to be.

She had to be strong though, for her friends, for her father…for this town. They needed someone to protect them – they were innocents who didn't know what was out there, hiding in the dark and it was her job, set by nature to make sure that they were safe.

She was sick of doing that job.

Bonnie Bennett couldn't be selfless anymore, this town, this life had taken too much from her and now she wanted to be selfish, she wanted it all to be over.

As soon as Abby had woken, a look of horror on her face as she realised her circumstance, Bonnie knew she'd never turn and she couldn't bear to stay and watch another family member die. So she'd left. She was selfish for that, but she didn't care anymore.

She tightened her grip on the rail behind her as a gust of wind blew her clothes forward, flapping her coat around her as she shivered in her jeans.

A tear slipped from her closed eyes as she loosened her grip.

"What are you doing?" She gasped twisting her head to find the dark shadow that had spoken. It was one of the original vampires, staring at her curiously, head tilted to the side.

"What does it look like?" She whispered, turning to look back down at the river below.

"I don't understand." He says simply, walking closer, approaching slowly as if she might do something drastic. Yeah, she was in the state of mind for it, that was for sure.

"What's not to understand?" She snapped. "I don't _want_ this anymore!" She sent him a fierce glare over her shoulder, her cold hands in a white knuckled grip on the guardrail.

"Why not just leave then?" He asks simply.

"It's not that simple!" She hissed, "I will always be _this_!" The wind whipped her hair around her face. "I can't change who I am!" No matter where she went, she would still be a witch and a Bennett witch at that, this supernatural crap would find her. She could never have a normal life.

As if reading her thoughts, the vampire stepped into the light, smirking lightly. "Normal's overrated," he offered and received only a glare in return. As the moonlight brightened his features, she let herself stare a little. Were all their family so damned attractive?

"This vampire shit is ruining my life," she glared, restraining herself from giving him an aneurism, not sure it could affect the original anyway.

"Only because you're letting it," he countered. "You're a witch, Miss Bennett – embrace it."

She scoffed then and questioned sarcastically, "what? You mean side with you vampires and help you go about your evil plans?"

"Tut, tut." He smirked, shaking his head dramatically. "So judgemental," he pointed at a finger at her.

He took another step closer then and she eyed him warily. "From what I've seen Miss Bennett, your power is at your little friends disposal and they will use you for it no matter what the consequences may be that you will suffer."

She couldn't ignore the truth in his statement.

"Everything you do is for others, for the greater good." He was directly in front of her now, raising a finger to draw it down her cheek. "It's a big world out there, you need to learn to live in it."

She stares, entranced as he speaks slowly, finger still resting against her freezing cheek. "For yourself and not for anyone else."

He steps back, smiling. "When they say jump, you say _no_."

She still stares. She doesn't know if she's capable of even doing that, he makes it sound so appealing, living her own life, never worrying about anyone else, but can she really do that? She never could say 'no' to anyone, especially not her friends. Was it really as simple as that?

She glanced back down at the rushing river. She didn't think it was.

The original was merely waiting silently for her to make her decision and when she looked back vulnerably he simply held out a hand. "Kol Mikaelson."

She stared for a moment between his outstretched hand and attractive smile and the darkness below waiting to engulf her.

Shaking, she let go of the guardrail...and took the devil's hand.

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><p><strong>AN:** I don't know whether to leave this as a one shot or update it slowly as a multi-chapter fic...


	2. Chapter 2

What the hell am I doing starting another fic? Fuck me, really? Really?

Thanks so much for the massive response this has gotten! Kennett obviously isn't as obscure as I thought!

**Warnings:** Sensitive themes obviously.

**Disclaimer:** I'd love to own TVD, but I don't, ergo I am poor.

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><p><em>Curve Balls<br>_

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><p>Bonnie wakes with a crick in her neck, wincing as she rolls over on her pillow, her quilt sliding from the bed and she groans as the icy morning air hits her. She's startled at the sound of a laugh – too close for comfort and shoots up, scrambling backwards into the headboard.<p>

The laughter is coming from the brunette original lounging against her bedroom wall next to the window. Grasping her head Bonnie tries to remember exactly what happened last night. She was…at Wickery Bridge…she was going to end it all, but she didn't…she came back here, with _him_.

"Did you…?" She's looking between him and the window confusedly because she _knows_ he didn't stay the night and he sure as hell wasn't invited in.

The vampire snorts, shaking his head. "Of course not, I'm not one of those neutered puppies you hang around with." He referred to the Salvatores. "I came in through the front door."

Bonnie only frowns again, thinking back to the night before. She had taken his hand and they had walked in silence through Mystic Falls and all the way back to her house. When they reached the porch, he reached up a hand to brush her hair out of her face and then he'd disappeared into the night – no words exchanged and certainly not an invitation.

"I haven't invited you in," she shot back and bit her lip warily at the leer he was giving her, eyes trailing up and down her frame. She regretted only wearing shorts and a camisole the night before – she would really be more comfortable in sweats right about now.

"No, but your father did," he comments lightly, stalking towards her across the room.

She sits up straighter at that, a dark glare escaping. "What did you do to him?" She hisses and he merely smirks back at her. She tumbles out of bed then, meeting him halfway across the floor, leaving only inches between them.

"Calm down little witch. Only a little compulsion." His voice is a smooth whisper and she can't help but feel her breath catch in her throat.

Bonnie feels like kicking herself. How could she forget to keep putting the vervain in her father's tea, no matter how busy she was, she should have still been looking out for him – protecting him. A guilty voice in the back of her mind wondered how her father would have coped if she had of died the night before. How he would feel if she had of jumped.

He was never home, leaving on business trips for weeks on end, his presence in her life was merely his credit card really, but he was still her father and no matter how often he'd skip out on her or how upset it made her feel, she didn't want him to suffer, to be vulnerable in a town full of vampires.

"Hey, hey," the original whispered, _Kol_, her mind supplied. "Stop that," a hand reached up to graze her cheek, "stop feeling _guilty_ over things you can't control." He spoke the word guilty as if it were foreign to him – it probably was. She couldn't help but be entranced by his deep, dark eyes, they were almost telling of his undead condition, two shining pools of ink.

She took a step back, coming to her senses and slapping his hand away confusedly. "What are you doing here?" She questioned harshly, crossing her arms over her chest, feeling vulnerable.

Kol just smiled, amused. "You never gave me your name, Miss Bennett." He took another step forward, putting them toe to toe and completely disregarding her discomfort. To Bonnie it was a clear message of dominance – that he would do what he liked, whether she agreed or not.

"Bonnie," she blurted out involuntarily. "My name is Bonnie."

His mouth tugged into a smirk. "Well Bonnie, it's my pleasure to make your acquaintance." The slightly sarcastic tone but neat bow of his head made Bonnie smile at least a little. The mixture of dominance and charm that the original exuded was enough to make any girl bite their lip, but she resolved not to fall into his trap.

"So-," she began to speak but was cut off by the sound of the doorbell ringing from downstairs. Kol studied her, his head tilted to the side as if gauging what she would do next. It could be Caroline, she had left her best friend – her only friend at the moment – with her mother in Gram's house the night before, not able to bear the thought of watching her pass. "I have to-,"

"It's Elena." He cut her off, his eyes darting to the floor as if he could see through it to the door. Bonnie halted in her tracks, two steps away from him – a few feet from the door. Elena. Elena of all people she really couldn't deal with right now.

She knew her friend hadn't meant for any of this to happen but it had and like always Bonnie was hurt trying to help _her_. No one ever helped Bonnie in return, not like this. She'd been ready to die for Elena when Klaus first appeared and the thanks she'd received for that? Another dead family member and her boyfriend being compelled not to miss her and shipped out of state. So no, she couldn't see Elena right now.

The enigmatic vampire across the room seemed to read her thoughts, smirking slightly as he suggested, "how about I tell the lovely Elena she'd best be on her way?" He doesn't wait for an answer, only moves to leave the room to do exactly that and Bonnie has to stop him by throwing an arm out to catch him across the chest.

"No!" She protested, "you can't." She dropped her eyes to the floor. "How do you think she'll react to you being here? And I can't just tell her to leave," she felt the guilt rise in her chest. "She's still my friend...she didn't mean for this to happen."

Kol stared. "You really are something Bonnie Bennett."

She shifted on her feet, unsure of whether or not that was a compliment. "Look, I'll just go and see what she wants."

"No." The original said simply, standing in front of her firmly once again.

"It's none of your business!" She yelled as the doorbell rang again and she was sure Elena was probably yelling out something she couldn't hear over the blood pounding in her ears.

Kol scoffed. "Go and jump off a bridge then."

The vampire was halfway down the stairs before she finally caught up to him, rage burning in her chest. "Excuse me?"

He turned around to face her as she stared him down incredulously, emerald eyes flaming. "You heard me." He said, holding out his arms in a 'come at me' gesture. "If you're not going to embrace what you are then you may as well go back to that bridge and jump off of it."

He dropped his hands back to his sides, turning and continuing on his way down the stairs. She thought about what he was saying, nothing had changed since the night before, not really. She had to make a change she wanted – the world was going to keep dealing her a shitty hand, as a Bennett witch that much was practically a given, but she could change the way she felt about it, the way she dealt with it, she would have to try.

She had to adapt to survive.

"Wait!" She called after him, just as his hand hovered above the doorknob. She bounded down the stairs clumsily, taking two at a time in her rush and careened down the hallway to meet him. She looked up at him hesitantly when his expression didn't change, lower lip shaking.

"I don't know what to do," she admitted quietly. "I don't know if I _can_…"

"What?" He laughed, "be selfish?" The vampire shook his head. "Of course you can Miss Bennett and I'm more than happy to show you how." And with that he threw the front door open to reveal Elena Gilbert, shifting hesitantly on the porch, raising her hand to ring the bell again.

"Bonnie!" She cried out in surprise, before noticing the original who had opened the door in the first place. "Wha…What are you doing with him?" She asked abruptly and Bonnie froze.

She stared at her friend, the girl she used to have sleepovers with and study groups on a Friday night. The girl who used to paint her nails for her because she was too clumsy to do them herself. The girl who would lend her some clothes if she stayed the night because they were just that close.

She looked at her and all she could see was the girl who had caused her so much pain. The reason her Grams was dead, the reason her mother was gone too. The reason for all this hurt and heartache – it was all her fault.

Bonnie couldn't do anything, she wanted to scream, to cry, to hurt Elena the way she'd been hurt but she couldn't. All she could do was stare silently, at the girl who had destroyed her life so completely. She couldn't breathe.

"I don't think she wants to see you right now dear doppelganger, _if_ ever again."

And then the door was slammed in Elena's face and Kol was turning to her with a smirk. "And that's how easy it is." She looks up at him through glistening eyes and can't help but laugh at the self-satisfied look that's blossomed on his face. He breaks out into a grin at her smile.

"You can't worry about what other people feel like little witch," he says matter-of-factly. "If you don't want to talk to someone then _don't_. If you don't want to do something then _don't_." He smirks for a moment and then continues silkily, "however if you _want_ to do something with me, I'm definitely available." He follows it up with a wink and her jaw drops.

Furiously, she concentrates her powers on popping the blood vessels in his brain, not a lot, just a little, enough to make him wince and reach a hand up to his head, but nowhere near the strength needed to bring him to his knees.

"Well, well." He rasps. "The little witch does have a backbone after all, who knew?"

She wants to wipe that cocky smirk off his face and maybe take him down a peg or two so he wasn't completely oozing with confidence but for some reason she felt drawn to him. Maybe it was just the intrigue but on some level she also felt like she owed him, which was silly.

It wasn't like he saved her, right? Whether she wanted to let this world keep hurting her was no one's business but her own. And yet, she couldn't help but feel like maybe he was saving her from herself.

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><p>"Why did we have to come out?" She complained wearily, couldn't he just leave her alone for one hour to mope?<p>

"Because I wanted to Miss Bennett," he commented lightly as she pulled herself out of his fancy sports car that she wasn't sure he was competent enough to drive. "And what I want," the original continued, lips tilting up.

"You get, yes, yes I know." She rolled her eyes at him. "But what about what I want?" She pouted, "isn't that what this is supposed to be all about?" She tried. "Me…doing what _I_ want?"

He sent her a devilish smirk then that she would vehemently deny caused any butterflies to flutter around her stomach. "You don't know what you want, not really," he said nonchalantly and that was the end of that.

A little uncomfortable that she seemed to have no choice in the matter whatsoever, Bonnie simply sighed and followed him into the Grill, tensing up as his hand settled into the curve of her lower back, guiding her to the bar. As if aware of the effect his closeness was having on her the smirk didn't leave his face.

Bonnie groaned as she sat down at the bar. "Seriously, there are other things I should be doing," she protested one last time. "I have responsibilities!" She really should be going to find Caroline at her Grams' house, finding out what had happened to her mother but as much as she knew it was something she had to do, it was too painful, too raw to even think about right now.

So as much as she protested, she would really rather be here than there anyway. Harsh, but if there was one thing Bonnie Bennett couldn't handle, it was any more blows today and that was all a visit to Grams' was sure to bring.

As if the world were out to get her she was startled out of her thoughts by a soft voice from behind her. "Bonnie?" She should twirl around on her seat, face Caroline and ask what had happened. Thank her for being strong where she couldn't – but she didn't. She simply stared down at the grainy wooden bar top and bit her lip.

"Hm, you're my brother's flavour of the week, are you not?" Kol commented from next to her and Bonnie finally turned just to jab him in the ribs.

"Shut up!" She sent him a harsh glare to which he held up his hands in surrender. Sighing heavily she turned to Caroline then, holding her head in her hand. "Hey, Caroline."

"Hey," The blonde girl said quietly, moving to sit on the other side of her. "So I heard Elena visited you this morning?" She commented, obviously deciding to avoid the elephant in the room for the moment.

"Yeah," Bonnie groaned, "I really didn't want to talk to her."

Caroline giggled. "Oh yeah, I got _that_ from her recounting of things." Of course Elena had told her already, in fact Caroline would have been the second or third to know because surely the Salvatore's would be first in line to be told of Bonnie consorting with the evil original vampire. Bonnie had also only realised after Elena had left how it must have looked to her, the original opening Bonnie's door at that time of the morning and Bonnie in only tiny shorts and a nearly see-through camisole…

"I don't suppose it's too much to hope that she was lying and that psycho original over there is just sitting next to you by coincidence?"

Bonnie lets out the first full belly laugh she's had in the while since her life went completely to hell. "Oh Caroline," she grins.

"What?" The blonde protests, laughing now too.

"Do I need to remind you who you spent eighty percent of your time with this week?" Caroline turns a deep red and Bonnie grins again. Bonnie 1, Caroline 0. Of course it hadn't exactly been Caroline's fault that Klaus wouldn't give her a moment's peace but that was neither here nor there.

It feels refreshing to finally smile again despite all that's happened and Bonnie leans over to hug her friend. "Thanks," she mutters, knowing Caroline will understand that it's for everything. For looking after her mother, for doing what she herself couldn't – and for not judging her.

"That's okay," she smiles, a little sadly at the witch. "I know what it's like, remember?" And Bonnie feels her heart break. Of course Caroline understands, the only difference between the two of them is that the blonde was strong enough to stay with her father in his final moments.

"What am I going to do?" Bonnie whispers quietly, deciding to finally bite the bullet.

Caroline looks at her sympathetically. "Don't worry about it Bon, mom's taking care of the arrangements and I called Jamie yesterday. Everything's taken care of." Bonnie closes her eyes. She had known of course that her mother wouldn't turn – that the crime against nature would be too much for the older Bennett witch but she had still held onto that tiny thread of hope that she might change her mind.

That maybe at the last minute Caroline would come running to her, telling her that Abby had decided to join the undead and stay with her daughter. She should have known better than to hope anyway – Abby had abandoned her once and she had no trouble doing it again.

Bonnie felt a tear slip down her cheek as she looked at Caroline in gratitude. "Thankyou," she pulled her friend's hand into hers. "Really."

"Don't mention it," the cheerleader says softly and that's that.

Caroline leans across the bar and orders a tequila for herself and a vodka for Bonnie and the witch takes the alcohol with relief. Maybe there's another way to numb all this pain…then again, she doesn't want to end up like Damon either. As she sips her drink the witch notices that her original tag-along has been studying her silently the entire time, downing a drink of his own.

"So what's next on the plan?" She asks him, raising an eyebrow challengingly. "You're bringing me here for drinks, to let loose a little?"

At the look that enters his eyes Bonnie's actually sorry she ever asked the question in the first place.  
>"Well I can think of a few things…"<p>

"Oh my god!" Bonnie glares at him. "You seriously have a one track mind you know that?" Caroline chokes on her drink next to them and as for Kol – he only gives her a deadpan look.

"I've been in a coffin for one hundred years."

The two girls are silent for a moment, staring at him with wide eyes before he bursts out laughing, raising a drink to them, commenting, "you should have seen the look on your face!" Really? Bonnie griped internally; so not funny. "You didn't honestly think I hadn't…acquired myself some company in the last week did you?"

Bonnie gapes for a moment at the implication, before narrowing her eyes and bursting the blood vessels all through his brain tissue for the second time that day, though this time infinitely more intensely. "You _what_?" She hissed in a deadly voice, standing from her stool, watching him cringe in pain.

"Come now love," he grits out, "don't be jealous."

She shoves him then, snarling, "I'm not jealous!" She then leaned forward to hiss in his ear wary of the other patrons, "you can't just _compel_ girls into sleeping with you – it's _wrong_!" It went against everything that she believed in and the young witch was disgusted.

"Well," the original groans out, straightening as she finally lifted her 'aneurism', "I don't really have a choice unless you want them running around the town screaming 'vampire!'."

She cannot believe she's spent the whole day with this self-centred little monster. "Seriously?" She yells, attracting the attention of the rest of the establishment. He's been compelling girls to _feed_ on them as well as sleep with them? Even when his _darling_ mother had promised the council that none of the townspeople would be harmed.

"Uh, Bonnie, maybe we should take this outside?" Caroline tugged on her arm, looking around nervously at the stares they'd attracted.

The witch simply glared up at the now irritated original, conveying with her eyes exactly how she felt about his confessed behaviour. "No," she spat lowly, "I think we're done here." And with that she tossed her curls over her shoulder and stormed out of the bar.

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><p>So now that you have a feel for what it will be like, potential for a multi-chap? Or just scrap it and leave the first chapter as a one shot?<p>

PS. My fav anons Katerina and Di are in the house! :D Hey guysssss.


	3. Chapter 3

**Warnings:** Sensitive themes? Eg. Depression, etc.

**Disclaimer:** I'd love to own TVD and I'm sure you guys would love it too considering everyone's stance on Julie at the moment, I do not however own much of anything really.

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><p><em>Curve Balls<br>_

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><p>"What the hell was I thinking?" Bonnie cussed, throwing her handbag onto the side table as she stormed into Caroline's house. "I mean, really? What the <em>hell<em> was I thinking?"

Caroline grins, following her green eyed friend through the hallway. "You were thinking he's one sexy ass-!"

"Caroline!" Bonnie cut her off, trying to hold her glare but ending up bursting into laughter. They entered the living room, laughing so hard they could barely hold themselves up, stopping short at the sight of another original lounging in the recliner.

"Who's sexy?" Klaus asked lowly, tilting his head to the side, eyes flickering between the two. He was obviously watching Bonnie carefully and she couldn't help but feel a little proud at that – they should be wary of her, she could kick their ass.

Bonnie rolled her eyes as Caroline bit her lip, suddenly speechless. What is it with these originals? It was the accent wasn't it.

"We were actually talking about your asshole of a brother," Bonnie shrugged, flopping down on the sofa and raising her eyebrow in a clear challenge. _Don't start with me today_.

Klaus only snorted, "which one." He muttered sarcastically and Bonnie couldn't help but snort too.

"The womanizing one." She answered his rhetorical question offhandedly.

"Kol?"

"Kol." She confirmed, shrugging off her jacket.

"So," Caroline cut in then, "…what are you doing here?"

Klaus' smirk showed his fangs and Bonnie couldn't see why Caroline was swooning. Then again, Kol had done the same to her this morning and…she was totally not going to think about that right now. If ever again.

"Just dropping by to let you know to pick out a dress and I'll pick you up at seven," Klaus commented casually and slid past Caroline, dropping a kiss on her cheek and slipping out the door before either girl could blink.

"How does he do that?" Caroline complained out loud.

"What?" Bonnie raised an eyebrow amusedly.

"Just…get me." Caroline wasn't being very articulate but the witch knew what she meant. A few words, a statement of fact, not a proposition and Klaus had her hook, line and sinker.

"You're a pushover," Bonnie shrugged, grinning at her friend, but sobering as Caroline remained pensive.

"What if this is right Bonnie?"

Bonnie hesitated at that. "What do you mean?"

Caroline bit her lip. "I think I actually _like_ him Bon." She sighed and Bonnie's eyes widened as Caroline burst into tears. "He picked _me_, Bonnie! Not Elena, or anyone else – _m_e."

"Oh sweetie," Bonnie pulled her into a hug. Time and time again Caroline had been passed over for someone else, usually Elena. In fact, in the hurt by Elena stakes, Caroline was right up there with her the poor thing – Bonnie knew what it felt like to be second best.

"I _want_ to be with him Bonnie, how bad is that?"

For once the Bennett witch didn't know what to say, the right words just weren't there. A few days ago she would have said no, vampires like them are evil and we should stay away from them, but now…

"Care, I honestly don't know what's right or wrong anymore." She sighed. Not to mention that Caroline was a vampire too, encouraging her to date humans just wasn't going to work in the long run, they would all die; even Tyler would age eventually and Caroline would be heartbroken.

She really needed to find a vampire.

"Well, look on the plus side, at least I know you'll always be safe," Caroline let out a miserable giggle at that and Bonnie smiled. Klaus was the biggest predator on Earth, so theoretically he was the best option for keeping Caroline alive and well.

"Trust you to look at it _logically_," Caroline groaned.

Bonnie smirked, "what's that supposed to mean?" She nudged the blonde with her foot, shoving her up and towards the stairs.

"There's nothing logical about it!" Care whined, "I see him and his stupid half-curly hair and I just- ugh!"

Bonnie snorted. She really had no idea that Caroline had it this bad. "Care," she said softly, turning her friend around to face her. "I know up until now I haven't been the biggest vampire supporter," she ignored the incredulous scoff that she received for that, "but if he makes you happy…" She trailed off awkwardly.

Caroline was really her only friend now and she didn't want to lose her over something so stupid as boyfriend choice – or her own supernatural prejudices. Looking at the consequences it would have – the loss of her best friend, or said friend being miserable, it was hard to find it in her to hate vampires so much anymore.

Besides, as strange as it was, Klaus seemed to be being, dare she say it…good to Caroline. As in actually making an effort and that was something Bonnie couldn't quite grasp, of course he could still be playing the cheerleader, the jury was still out on that one and Bonnie would be keeping a close eye on the hybrid to make sure that he didn't step one foot out of line.

"Come on," the darker girl whispered quietly. "Let's find you a dress." It was already five thirty after all.

You wouldn't think it would take long to find one simple dress…yeah, imagine how many dresses Caroline Forbes owns and then you'll see the problem. They were successful eventually though and Caroline looked beautiful with her hair curled and falling around her shoulders, a dark navy dress flowing around her thighs and gladiator sandals adorning her feet. Set for any occasion.

"I wish he'd told me where we're going," she shifted nervously, running a hand through her hair.

Bonnie reached up to grab her hand and stop her from ruining her hair, not wanting to have to run back up the stairs and grab a comb. "Well he's hardly going to take you mini golfing," she laughed, handing Caroline her bag and phone.

Caroline snorted at that. "Can you imagine! That would be so funny!" The blonde burst into laughter and only stood up straight when they heard a throat clearing.

Klaus stood in the open doorway, leaning against the wall, watching the two of them with amusement. "I'm sure I'd be good at it if I tried love," he commented with a smirk and Caroline rolled her eyes at his arrogance. How did he even get the door open anyway? Bonnie was sure they'd locked it. For Caroline's sake though, she refrained from glaring at him suspiciously.

Bonnie allowed herself to imagine, just for a second; a tiny miniscule amount of time, about what it would be like if it were her going on a date and Kol were standing in the doorway. _No_, she shook her head, it didn't matter how attractive the annoying original was, it was never going to happen and that was that.

"Have fun," she said softly, smiling at Caroline like a mother would as her daughter went out on a first date.

Caroline grinned, "thanks Bon, lock up when you leave yeah?" Bonnie and Caroline had keys to each other's houses since they were sixteen, something they'd luckily for Bonnie, not included Elena in. It hadn't been on purpose of course, but sometimes things turn out that way, especially since when Elena began dating Matt, she'd disappeared a lot and Caroline and Bonnie had only had each other.

Bonnie sighed, going back inside to retrieve her things before she left. She would walk the two blocks back to her house. If she were feeling lazy Caroline would let her drive the Fiesta, no questions asked but she needed the fresh air, some time to think – and she could protect herself so no problems there.

She mulled over the day's events in her head as she made her way down the sidewalk. Maybe she shouldn't have been so judgemental of Kol. _She_ thought she was right in being so, but then wasn't she trying to change herself currently? Talk about confusing. She didn't know what was right or wrong anymore, or she _did_…she just didn't know whether to care.

When she was a few yards from home she could make out a slim figure adorning her porch and groaned wondering whether it was too late to just turn around and spend the night at Caroline's. Of course as soon as she'd opened her mouth Elena had noticed her and come bounding down the front steps.

No possibility of escape now. Twice in one day? Seriously?

"Bonnie! I-!"

"Why don't you understand?" The witch found herself yelling in exasperation. "Why can't you just _back_ _off_?"

"I…" Elena frowned, "I just want to help you Bonnie…"

"No," she shook her head in denial. "No you don't Elena, you just want me to be there when _you_ need me." It was harsh but that was how it had become, even if Elena didn't mean it to.

"You can't even give me _one_ day," she whispered, making to storm around Elena and get inside.

"Why can't you just let me apologise?" Elena called out, grabbing her arm as she walked past and pulling her to a halt.

Frustrated; Bonnie reacted on impulse, throwing her magic out of her body and propelling Elena backwards and onto the grass. Immediately she felt bad and took a step forward, aborting the movement at the last minute. She sucked her lip in between her teeth, taking one look down at Elena's hurt face before fleeing up the porch steps and into the house, jamming the keys in and slamming the door behind her.

She let out a deep breath, leaning back against the door for support. She probably could have handled that better, god knows Stefan and Damon would probably be after her tomorrow.

Sighing she threw her house keys on the side table and tossed off her jacket, throwing it somewhere over the back of the couch. There was a note on the side table where she'd put her keys, her father telling her he was off to Atlanta for a business trip and wouldn't be back for a few days, the note was accompanied by a black AMEX card.

Her lip wobbled as she climbed the stairs in her silent house, feeling more alone than ever. She couldn't stand Elena, Caroline had a date and was doing so much better than she was (not that she would begrudge her that), her mother was dead and now her father was off again without even so much as a written 'love you' at the end of his note.

She sucked in a harsh breath and threw her shirt off, leaving it on the floor as she peeled off her jeans and headed to the shower, picking up some underwear and a small camisole along the way.

She wasn't going to cry, she would just keep telling herself that everything would be fine. She couldn't afford to breakdown again, it was a weakness and she couldn't leave herself open like that. As much as she kept trying to reinforce the thought on herself by the time she was out of the shower tears were streaming from her eyes.

She managed to stay silent, god forbid she break out into actual sobs. It was easy enough to go about brushing her teeth, running a comb through her hair – doing her nightly routines to try and convince herself that nothing had changed, but it wasn't working. She felt like the earth was going to cave out from underneath her and swallow her whole….she felt like she _wanted_ it to.

Leaving the bathroom, she padded down the hallway, arms wrapped around herself only to stop dead two feet into her room. That damn original was lounging on her bed casually, shoes off and eyes closed as if he belonged there.

When she entered the room his head shot up and she knew by the look on his face he was two seconds from a smart arsed comment, his jaw promptly clicked shut however when his eyes fell on her. She couldn't tell whether she'd rendered him speechless with the tears pouring out of her eyes or the amount of clothes she had on – specifically the lack thereof.

"What are you doing here?" Her voice was raspy, _weak_ and she hated it. She hated him for baring witness to it, for entering her house uninvited.

Kol merely raised an eyebrow, shaking his head and motioning for her to join him. "No," was out of her mouth before she could even think about it but when her brain caught up a moment later she was undecided.

Falling in with the evil vampires vs. being alone for the rest of her miserable existence in Mystic Falls? She couldn't fool herself, Caroline wouldn't stick around in little old Virginia forever, she had the world to see and it was looking more and more likely that she was going to abdicate and do it with Klaus.

Bonnie wasn't conceited enough to assume that she'd be invited along on the original family travels but Caroline was all she had right now, so whatever the amount of time she may have left with her friend, she'd have to get used to the bloodsucking creatures of the night it seemed – the original ones that is.

She could tell herself later that she wasn't doing this for herself, that it wasn't a purely selfish motivation to be near someone that made her join him, but she couldn't deny the warmth that flooded her when his arm wrapped around her shoulders and pulled her in and they sat in comfortable silence.

She couldn't help but marvel that as he tucked her head under his chin she felt a little less alienated, a little less pained – a little less in danger of the earth devouring her whole.

She would vehemently deny however that her heart beat that little bit faster as soon as their skin made contact. Unfortunately for her, vampire senses had no trouble picking that up and Bonnie was so drawn into her thoughts that she missed the original's self-satisfied smirk.

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><p><strong>AN:** So um, Bonnie and this Jaime kid hey? What do you guys all think of that because I'm sure as hell um...disappointed?


	4. Chapter 4

**Alright so,** I do sincerely apologise for the lateness of any updates. FF decided one of my fics violated T&C and locked me out because I had the word 'shit' in a summary. They deleted the fic, which has been up for over SIX YEARS and froze my account for a while so I couldn't upload so yeah. Not my fault they suck. That's also why all my fics are now securely on an M rating, even though they're more T.**  
><strong>

**Warnings:** Maybe language?

**Disclaimer:** I don't own TVD.

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><p><em>Curve Balls<br>_

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><p>Bonnie woke slowly, head pounding and her throat feeling scratchy. She groaned a little as the harsh sunlight filtering through her window burned her eyes. It was a few more seconds before her brain caught up with her and she realised she wasn't the only one in her bed.<p>

Her arm was sprawled across a certain sleeping vampire and she winced, drawing it back slowly. When she'd retrieved her limb without waking the brunette she sat up on her elbows, taking the chance to study the enigma that was Kol Mikaelson.

Why was he here? Amusement perhaps? Maybe now that Klaus was playing nice for a little while the originals were left with nothing better to do. She sighed, pulling back the hand she hadn't known she'd been reaching out toward him.

"We really have to stop meeting like this love."

She couldn't bring herself to laugh but managed to crack a small smile nonetheless. "Maybe you need to stop breaking into my house then," she replied, watching as he only smirked – eyes still closed. You couldn't tell when he was awake or not because he didn't need to _breathe_.

'And when you've been spending enough time with a vampire to realize that Bonnie, you obviously need a time out' she thought to herself. Sighing she rolled out of bed and headed to the window. The weather at least was better than it had been – she had intended on going to the opening of the new Wickery Bridge yesterday before all this began, it was nice and sunny for it. Obviously though, that hadn't happened.

Folding her arms over her chest she closed her eyes, feeling her head begin to pound. Damn headaches, this is why she shouldn't cry. She was two steps to the bathroom to find herself an aspirin when she stopped in her tracks. Why should she even take aspirin? There had to be some sort of spell for this right?

Rolling her eyes, she turned on her heel once more, sliding onto the floor to pull a grimoire from under her bed. She was sure her Grams' would have some sort of pain relieving spell.

Crossing her legs on the rug, she drew the book into her lap and began flicking though the pages, biting her lip as she went.

"What are you looking for little witch?"

She looked up to come nose to nose with Kol, leaning lazily over the edge of her bed. She had almost forgotten he was even there and that in itself was dangerous. She opened her mouth to tell him to mind his own business but stopped short at his inquisitive stare, breath escaping her.

She struggled for a moment before blurting out the first thing that came to her mind. "I'm not little!"

He only smiled at her indulgently and she huffed, returning to the grimoire.

"I'm looking for a pain reliever," she muttered reluctantly, gaze fixated on the pages in front of her.

She was sure her reaction was comical when he answered a few seconds later, "I've got one."

Her jaw dropped and she let out a scoff. "_You_? Know a pain relieving spell?"

He smirked. "I didn't say I knew a spell." Her eyes widened as the veins beneath his eyes protruded, black and swollen and he tore through the flesh of his wrist with two sharp incisors. She stared dumbly as he held out the bleeding appendage.

"No!" She cried automatically, recoiling.

He rolled his eyes. "Keep searching your spells then, but I won't offer again."

She nearly bit clean through her lip as she focused on the red liquid coating his wrist. It would be so easy…an instant fix.

"How do I know you won't kill me before it's out of my system? I don't want to be a vampire!" She glared fiercely up at him, the tiny part of her that still wanted to serve mother nature telling her not to trust a monster.

"You're more useful to me with your powers Miss Bennett," he commented idly as the wound on his wrist began to stitch itself back together.

She moved forward a little, hesitantly, but then aborted the move at the last second. "It won't do anything to me?"

It was Kol's turn to roll his eyes then. "You've been watching too many vampire movies." He took a strong grip on her arm, pulling her up next to him with one motion. "I promise you little witch, you won't enjoy it, it won't be quite to your…_human_ taste."

She couldn't say what compelled her to do it – no pun intended – but one second she was watching his skin knit itself back up and the next she was sucking on it, pulling the blood into her mouth. He was right, it tasted repugnant. It was true that blood tasted like a nickel and drinking it willingly again would not be going on her bucket list.

She pulled away coughing, hating the feeling of the sticky substance on her lips. But…she could already feel her headache ebbing away – an instant fix. She didn't know whether it was the blood, or her recently less than stable state of mind, but instead of doing the sensible thing and washing her mouth out, or even taking a shower, she found herself launching forward and smashing her lips against his.

It didn't take him more than a second to kiss her back and by the time they separated for air, his hands were gripping her hips.

"Damn it." She muttered, throwing herself away from him. Here she was, not even 48 hours after her mother's death, making out with a vampire and drinking his blood like some kind of…she didn't want to even think the word. What the hell was wrong with her?

"Here we go…" she heard Kol mutter and glared at him darkly.

"Shut up!" She snapped, feeling her magic bubble like fire beneath her fingertips.

"You need to stop being so moral!" He sneered at her.

"I'm not-"

"Yes!" He interrupted her, "you are!"

She growled, contemplating whether it was worth picking up her grimoire and throwing it at his head.

"Tell me this then, little witch and be honest." He got up, stepping forward until they were toe to toe. "Why did you do it?"

Why did she do it? _Why_? Realising exactly what her answer was and where he was going with this she snarled, throwing her hands in the air. Honestly…"Because I wanted to!"

He grinned then, actually showing teeth and she sighed, socking him in the arm with her fist, making sure to use a little of her powers so it would actually have some effect. This was getting ridiculous.

"Why do you even care?" She asked as she stomped down the stairs, making her way into the kitchen to have something to eat and hopefully get rid of the horrid taste of blood that was lingering in her mouth.

"I find you intriguing Miss Bennett." He was right behind her, "and quite attractive."

She couldn't help but slam her glass down at that. "Do you now?"

"What can I say? I like to have fun."

She sighed, rubbing her hands over her eyes. "That's great. Just great."

At that moment her doorbell rang and she sent a quick prayer heavenward that it wouldn't be Damon Salvatore who greeted her when she opened the door.

"Caroline!" She greeted confusedly, but relieved all the same when the blonde girl bounded through the door.

"I'm so proud of you!" She squealed, launching herself forward to give the confused witch a hug.

"Uh…that's nice," Bonnie replied, raising an eyebrow.

"You finally stood up for yourself!"

"Oh. That." So Elena hadn't wasted any time in spreading the news, that was…awesome.

"What exactly did you do my little witch?" Kol questioned from behind her, immediately drawing Caroline's attention. She couldn't help but groan out loud as she saw Caroline's mouth silently moving 'my little witch'.

"Nothing. I didn't do anything."

"Oh no," the original replied, leaning against the kitchen counter. "Do tell."

Caroline grinned a little and Bonnie sighed. "I may have…pushed Elena over," she mumbled, looking down at the floor.

"What you did," Caroline corrected her, "is stand up for yourself."

Bonnie smiled a little. "Thanks Care."

"Hang on a minute," Kol raised his voice again, "how come it's ok for her to want you to grow a backbone, but not for me?"

"Because you're an evil vampire," Caroline chirped with a grin, "and I'm just a cheerleader."

"Who is also a vampire." Kol pointed out and Bonnie rolled her eyes.

"How was your date?" She changed the subject, hoping Caroline wouldn't notice. Who was she kidding? Of course she wouldn't – if there was one thing Caroline loved to talk about, it was boys.

"It was great!" She answered enthusiastically, waving her arms as she described where Klaus had taken her for dinner and what they'd talked about.

Bonnie wondered what her blonde friend was going to do about Tyler. She understood that Caroline would never mean to hurt him intentionally but this was going to crush the boy, especially considering why he'd left in the first place. She didn't dare bring it up though in fear of ruining the blonde's better-than-good mood – after all, one of them had to be happy.

"So did you hear about Alaric?"

Bonnie shrugged a little at Caroline's sudden change of topic, feeling a little guilty that she hadn't been paying as much attention to her friend's obvious enthusiasm as she should have been. "Not really, I heard that he was arrested or something?"

It was true, she had overheard that when they were leaving the Grill yesterday.

"Yeah, I don't know what about though, mum wouldn't tell me anything when I asked this morning." Caroline shook her hair out of the tight ponytail it was in. "She's keeping something from me."

Before Bonnie could reply the Caroline's phone began to chirp. They glanced at each other quickly but before either could reach for it from where the blonde had thrown it on the table Kol had snatched it up and begun reading aloud.

"Meet in woods, Elena knows where. We have a plan."

Bonnie frowned, "personal space!" She muttered before snatching it back and handing it over to her friend. "How come I'm never invited to these things?" Bonnie threw her hands up in the air.

"I don't know, you have a charming personality."

She couldn't help herself at that, throwing her arm back she socked him in the gut, though she doubted he even felt it. "Shut up. Your stupid family didn't even invite me to your little ball!"

"Touchy. I didn't even know you then love." Kol rolled his eyes at her, pushing himself up to perch on the table.

"Yeah well, your mother did," Bonnie huffed, "considering I was the one that got her out of that damn coffin in the first place!" She wasn't sure whether it was her tone or the fact that she'd mentioned Esther but a dark look flickered across the original's eyes.

She twitched then as he made the tiniest movement and flinched – squeezing her eyes shut and throwing her power outwards. It was a knee-jerk reaction and though she stopped it mere seconds later, she still felt bad for what she'd done on instinct when he flinched back, hands grasping his temples.

"Sorry," she mumbled, looking down at the floor.

"Anyway, what do I do?" Caroline cut in on her inner musings. "If they've found a way to kill Klaus…"

Bonnie sighed, rubbing her temples with her fingers, feeling as if her headache would return again any minute now – it was far too early for this!

"You go. You go and find out what their plan is and we decide what to do later." Bonnie set the mug that she'd just emptied onto the kitchen sink. "Maybe you'll find out what's going on with Alaric too."

"Alright," Caroline murmured, picking up her keys. "I'll go now and I'll call you – let you know what's going on." She sent a furtive glance at Kol before giving Bonnie a quick hug and making her way out the door.

While she may have told Caroline they'd decide later, she already knew what the decision would be – they'd save the stupid originals. Even if her blonde friend couldn't tell herself, Bonnie could see how much she cared about Klaus. Lord knows why, but she was pretty sure Caroline was falling in love with the hybrid.

Besides, Kol had been present for the whole conversation – it wasn't as if the originals didn't already know there was a plan in motion anyway.

"You need to get dressed little witch, we have places to be."

Bonnie turned to face him, frowning. "I think our little adventure of self-discovery is going to have to wait Kol."

The brunette smirked. "Cute, but I wasn't talking about that. Klaus wants you to come over."

Bonnie stiffened instinctively. "He wants me to come over." She deadpanned, raising an eyebrow. "And how exactly was that phrased originally?"

"It was phrased just like that." Kol smiled a little, tilting his head. "He's asking politely." It was left unsaid that he wouldn't be taking no for an answer and that he also wouldn't be asking politely again.

"Huh." Bonnie mumbled, turning to make her way up the stairs once more. "Why exactly am I coming over?" She asked, though she already knew the answer.

"You're going to undo the spell that our mother did binding us together." Well that answered her questions of how much he knew exactly.

"Even if I wanted to, and I'm not saying I don't," she yelled over the banister, "I wouldn't even know where to start."

Quicker than she could blink, he was centimetres in front of her and she didn't think she'd ever get used to that. "My family's been around a long time Miss Bennett. I'm sure we can help you figure it out."

It was interesting to her that he was visibly bothered by this because she usually found it so hard to read him.

"Okay," she mumbled. "Let me take a shower first."

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><p>"You need to hurry."<p>

"I'm trying my best Klaus!" She grits her teeth, glaring up at him through a stray wisp of hair. The least he could do was be polite, while she was sure there was some kind of back-up plan in place to blackmail her, she was currently doing this of her own volition.

"Your little friends have a plan and while we may not know what it is, Finn is on the loose and an easy target. If he goes down, we _all_ go down, so I suggest you try harder Miss Bennett." Klaus fumed, pacing up and down the room.

Taking a deep breath in through her nose and reminding herself to remain calm, Bonnie held out a hand, speaking to Kol who had been watching silently. "Give me that chalice."

She was double checking the grimoire's instructions again when the door burst open and Caroline flew into the room looking a little panicked.

"Caroline?" Klaus questioned, crossing the room towards her as Bonnie did the same.

"Shit." The witch muttered, figuring out exactly what Caroline's expression meant – the Salvatore's had a plan and this time it was actually a good one.

"We are in big trouble." The blonde muttered, meeting Bonnies eyes. "Well, not us," she turned to Klaus, punctuating with her hands. "But _you_, you are in trouble."

Kol nudged Bonnie, inclining his head towards Caroline as if to say, 'please get your friend to make sense'. It was a little hilarious to be honest to see Klaus confronted with a babbling Caroline, something that no sane person should have to endure.

"Care, what's their plan?" She cut in smoothly, bring Caroline's attention back to the point.

Caroline bit her lip. "They have stakes. White oak stakes from the original tree."

Klaus looked taken aback. "It's not possible," he growled, "we burned it all to ash."

Caroline only shakes her head before pulling a long white piece of timber out of her bag. "No,they have them. And they have more than one."

Klaus stares for a moment at the piece of wood before gritting his teeth. "How many exactly?"

"Eleven." Caroline replies promptly, "including this one of course."

"Who are they going after?" Kol speaks up from beside her and Bonnie jumps almost having forgotten he was there.

"They gave us all stakes," she shrugged, "whichever one of you is spotted first."

Bonnie spoke up then before anyone else could comment. "Then we'd better speed this up then." She held out the knife to Klaus, motioning for him to hold his hand over the bowl. "I need some of your blood."

The calculating look he gave her made her roll her eyes. Like she was going to try anything in the Lion's den.

It occurred to her as she completed the spell how useless she would feel without her magic. While she didn't like people using _her_ only for her powers, she would feel like nothing without being able to use them. It was a double edged sword.

"That should have worked."

"Should have?" Klaus questioned.

"Well," she rolled her eyes with a little attitude, "how about we stake you and find out?" At his unimpressed glance she continued reluctantly. "If that didn't work then there's nothing I can do for you anyway."

"That's not exactly reassuring love," Kol muttered from beside her and Bonnie groaned.

"Well there's nothing else I can do! I'm ninety percent sure it worked."

"Uh, guys?" Caroline cut in staring down at her phone, "it must have worked…and that was a really close call."

"What! Why?" Kol demanded immediately.

Caroline looked up from her cell. "…because Finn is dead. They staked him."

"What?" A new voice interrupts from the doorway and Bonnie looked up to find a shocked Rebekah holding herself up against the frame. "Oh my god."

"Huh, so it really did work…" The witch muttered to herself only to be caught by twin glares from Rebekah and Kol. "Just saying."

Kol's face suddenly brightened a little. "Huh, so that means Sage is gone now too. Never did like the uppity bitch."

"Wait, what?" Caroline frowned and Bonnie agreed with her sentiment, not following that train of thought at all. Why would Sage be gone?

"When one of us dies," Klaus explained to Caroline, "their entire line dies. Everyone they've ever turned, turns to ash."

"But that would mean…"Bonnie trailed off, looking at Caroline fearfully. "Crap."

"The end of vampires completely – that was our mother's goal." Kol filled in but Bonnie was barely listening.

"Which of you is Caroline's line?"

Kol and Klaus looked at each other, silent communication passing between them before Klaus spoke up. "We'd rather not say."

Caroline gaped at him. "But-"

"As long as we all stay alive, which we _will_," Klaus glared, "It doesn't matter."

Bonnie huffed, unable to contain her annoyance at that answer. "Now love, don't be like that." Kol grinned and the witch found herself once again having to slap his hands away from her.

"Even if the spell worked, that doesn't change the fact that there's still ten more stakes out there that can kill us." Klaus was good at planning for every eventuality and you could already see the wheels in his mind turning to figure out what this meant for his plans, what his next course of action would be.

"Well," Rebekah interrupted, finally bringing their attention back to her, "I just so happen to have a Salvatore hanging up downstairs, why don't we go and ask him about it?"

"You what?" Bonnie couldn't hold in her shock.

"Which one?" Caroline asked simultaneously.

Rebekah smirked a little. "Which do you think? Damon of course – I wasn't going to let him get away with what he did to me."

Bonnie refrained from asking what exactly that was but did follow the family of vampires down the staircase.

"Why don't you go home, beautiful?"

Bonnie stopped in her tracks, staring up into Kol's chocolate eyes. "Why are you asking me that now? Because you think I'll try and save Damon?" She rolled her eyes, stepping around him and moving to join the others.

When she reached the walkway, her eyes met Damon Salvatore's, murky and pain-filled and she wished she hadn't come down at all.

"I know you, Miss Bennett." Kol commented, taking a place at her side once more. "You can't stand to see him in so much pain. You want to save him."

Indeed Bonnie was having a hard time. She had a decision to make and it wasn't an easy one. Every fibre of her being that was still whole, every last bit of goodness she had left in her was screaming at her to help Damon, vampire or not. But another voice reminded her that he had been the cause of her mother's death. He and his brother had left her mother's fate to a coin toss and she would never forgive them for that.

Kol took her chin in his hand, forcing her to face him in a manner almost reminiscent of when he used compulsion. He spoke clearly and carefully, making sure she was taking his words for what they were – an ultimatum. "Would you like me to take you home?"

Make a decision. Take a step towards Damon and whatever this is? It's done. And while she had no idea what exactly it was or what she wanted, she knew she wasn't ready for it to be over yet, not when she was just starting to evolve into something new.

Whether what she was turning into was good or bad, she didn't know, but she'd already tasted the forbidden fruit and now she couldn't go back.

"Take me home Kol," she sighed, letting him take her hand and pull her closer, taking one last look at Damon, where he was hanging before she left.

The disbelief in his eyes would be a nice addition to her nightmares tonight.

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><p><strong>AN:** So while I'm back, I'm not quite back since I'm heading overseas tomorrow and I won't have my laptop. But hopefully you won't have to wait too long.

Let me know what you thought of Kol this chapter. I had the good fortune to meet Nate Buzolic a fortnight ago who plays Kol (a fellow Australian :D) so I feel like my brain is still trying to seperate Kol from Nate. Just in case any of you were wondering, he is an amazing person. I found him really inspirational. And hilrious too! :)


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